The game was tied at 1-1, and the ball was in the corner of the field. With only seconds left, a player on the other team fouled me to stop my progress. I had been talking trash all game and it seemed like he was mad because I was talking a lot of crap to him during the game. So as I walked up to take my free kick, I knew exactly what I wanted to say.
To close off Week 4 of the 2021 NFL season, the Los Angeles Chargers and Las Vegas Raiders played a thrilling but ultimately unsatisfying Monday Night Football contest. After the Chargers defeated the Raiders 28-14, LA’s top pass rusher Joey Bosa chastised Las Vegas quarterback Derek Carr.
Carr has now retaliated, intensifying the verbal battle. As long-time division rivals, this should add to the intrigue of the crucial rematch between the two clubs.
During the 1960 season, the Los Angeles Chargers and the Oakland Raiders both joined the American Football League (AFL). The following year, the Chargers relocated to San Diego, and when the AFL and NFL combined before of the 1970 season, both clubs made the transition and became rivals in the NFL’s westernmost AFC division.
The Raiders and Chargers have met 123 times in their history as bitter rivals, with the Raiders holding a small series edge with a 65-56-2 record, according to Raiders.com.
It’s no wonder that the teams and players have a tense relationship given their familiarity.
The Chargers beat the Raiders 28-14 on Monday Night Football in Week 4 to complete the latest chapter in the Chargers-Raiders rivalry.
Between the two brands, there is still no love lost. To demonstrate this, according to ESPN, LA’s top pass-rusher Joey Bosa made some harsh remarks about Raiders QB Derek Carr after the game:
We figured if we struck him a few times, he’d be extremely shaken. Before we even got back there, you could see [Christian Covington] curling into a ball on his sack. So, excellent player, wonderful guy. He’s had a fantastic year, but we understood that if we put too much pressure on him, he’ll shut down, and he’ll be less successful with a packed pocket, so that was the key.
Derek Carr, according to Joey Bosa
Those remarks had to hurt, even if Bosa couched them by calling Carr a “great guy, fantastic athlete.” And, based on Carr’s reaction, they seem to have struck home.
Derek Carr has been in the NFL for eight years. He’s generally been cautious with his public remarks throughout his tenure in the league. This offseason, though, was a bit different.
He said at one time that he intended to remain a Raider for the rest of his life and that if he was ever moved, he would retire. Carr then issued a warning to the rest of the league when teammate Carl Nassib came out as the NFL’s first out homosexual active player.
After hearing Bosa’s remarks, he reacted bluntly once more:
Joey is one of my favorites. He is well aware of this. We’ve gone back and forth many times. He was undoubtedly irritated since I was yelling at him during the game…. He has the right to his viewpoint and to say anything he wants. But it’s almost as though he was watching the game backwards…. I simply felt it was terrible that he would say that in the first place. Maybe he was simply trying to irritate me. He did, in fact, irritate me. So, kudos to you for that. But it isn’t always a negative thing.
Joey Bosa vs. Derek Carr
In addition to Carr, several other NFL players believed Bosa went too far by slamming the quarterback after the Chargers’ win. Jim Trotter of the NFL Network is a great illustration of this.
“Your remarks on Derek Carr last night were far out of line,” the veteran NFL reporter remarked on TV, addressing Bosa. “If he was as terrible or as cowardly as you said, why did he go 9-of-10 for 76 yards and two touchdowns in the third quarter, behind a line that couldn’t protect him?”
“You’re better than that, Joey,” Trotter said with a flourish.
This is the first-ever Week 18 rematch between the Raiders and the Chargers.
Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images | Joey Bosa and Derek Carr .
“We’ll see ’em again,” Carr said during his answer to Bosa. They’ll face them again in what might be a pivotal game with significant playoff ramifications.
On January 9, 2022, the Las Vegas Raiders will face the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 18 of the NFL season. This game may decide whether one or both of these teams reach the playoffs, or possibly which club wins the AFC West, based on how they began the season.
The Raiders will have to avoid falling down 21-0 at halftime the next time they face the Chargers, as they did Monday night. In two of their first three games, the Raiders fought back from 14-point deficits. A three-touchdown deficit versus LA, on the other hand, was just too much.
Carr and company played well in the third quarter, but beating the Chargers requires a full four-quarter effort, as Trotter pointed out.
On the other hand, Bosa’s message is correct. It was more about the manner in which he presented it. To go 2-0 against the Raiders this season, the Chargers must put pressure on Carr. When the quarterback is under duress, he doesn’t have time to allow Hunter Renfrow or Darren Waller beat their defenders, or Henry Ruggs III and Bryan Edwards go deep.
If the playoffs and the AFC West title on the line in Week 18 weren’t enough, we now have the Bosa/Carr rivalry to look forward to in the regular-season finale.
Pro Football Reference provided all stats.
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